iCross Into the Blue
by Akirelee
Summary: When Carly recieves devastating news, can Freddie help her keep her head?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, I did make up the storyline. I write short chapter fics and never update unless I get reviews, which I crave...otherwise I assume people are uninterested and move on to the next project. Read and Review, and I welcome the flames if that's what you feel you need to do! This fic will be pure Creddie, and nothing more inappropriate will happen in it than in the actual show itself. Alright then, enjoy! WAIT! There are two songs which inspired this fic, which will be a very military fic indeed. If you have not heard them before, please check out Yo Side of the Bed by Trey Songz (be prepared to cry) found here .com/watch?v=xPd4Qp-Pdew, and Letters from War (at which point you may cry harder) .com/watch?v=uuvbBwsMTgI

PROLOGUE

Carly lay in a crumpled heap on Freddie's bed. She hadn't looked at anything other than her reflection in his large bay window for the better part of three hours, having far surpassed the need to blink. She had memorized every line on her face, could draw a diagram of her blood shot eyes so accurately Garmin would look bad, practically see grey hairs as they formed. Her vision came in and out of focus, but she stared for the blurry times, when her features blended together so perfectly she could clearly see her father's features in her own.

CHAPTER 1

Four hours ago, in the dead of night, Carly Shay awoke to a knock at the door. Spencer was backpacking through some South-American forest with Socko, and while Carly wouldn't typically answer the door when home alone, something about the curtness of the knock, the singular, resonating surety of it, compelled her to leave the warm nest she had created in the center of her bed. She had stood on her bare tip-toes to cautiously peer through the peep-hole, and nearly choked on her own breath when she glimpsed the six stacked stripes proudly displayed on the blue sleeves of her visitor. He held his hat over his heart, a remorseful look on his otherwise unremarkable face. She frantically fumbled to unhinge the locks, she knew them by memory but now it was as if she was working with all thumbs. She grasped the doorknob with clammy hands and twisted it, _if she hadn't gotten out of bed could she have kept the news to come at bay? _

The visitor wore twelve ribbons impeccably aligned with a small cross badge just above them. The silver name tag on his chest read "Wilkers" in blue lettering. He looked tired, weary. She couldn't claim that he moved his lips as he talked. She couldn't repeat what he said. She didn't need to listen to know what was coming. She had been dreading this moment her entire life. Her father had been killed in action.

Carly shoved past the suit, obliterating his solemn blue eyes from her memory. Her legs were numb, weak. She could barely walk. She began to fall forward when the door to Freddie's apartment swung open. She hadn't realized this was where she had been planning to go. She couldn't say how Freddie knew she needed him at that precise moment in the dead of night. She collapsed into his open arms, sobbing vehemently. Within seconds his shirt was soaked through. Freddie wrapped an arm around her waist and hooked the other under her knees, carrying her back through the threshold like a small child, leaving the apologetic Tech Sergeant behind.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Up until now, Freddie sat unnaturally still next to the wet puddle of tears and frumped pajamas that was Carly. He hadn't wanted to intrude on what was a very personal moment for her, and would have argued that she didn't even realize where she was, except that after three hours of woeful sobbing, and another of breathing so soft he had to lean in just to be assured she was still alive, she reached out a pale and trembling hand and blindly intertwined her fingers with his. Her hands were cold, her grip impossibly tight, he felt the telltale numbness of interrupted circulation but did not resist the vise.

"_Carly_." Freddie hovered over her sunken face. He didn't know how she could diminish so thoroughly in such a short amount of time. All those tears...she looked depleted; another slid from the corner of her eye as she stared up at him and he stopped it before it could come to rest in her matted hair, nearly fearful that the loss of even one more drop of fluid would somehow impair her life. "We need to call Spencer. He'll have left the campgrounds by now...he will have a signal."

She didn't respond, but breathed out what he could only assume was assent. Freddie pursed his lips thoughtfully, unsure of just what he would say to a man who was the only real father figure he had ever had. His face must have shown his apprehension, because Carly spoke at last, parting her cracked lips she croaked throatily, "I'll tell him."

"No...Carly, I'll do it." Freddie replied. He couldn't allow her to speak words out loud which he feared would destroy her.

"He's my brother, Freddie. I...I have to be the one." Though she seemed committed, she didn't make any effort to get up. Freddie stared down at her uneasily, one hand still cradling hers and the other near her face supporting his weight.

He stared into the wasted pits of her dark eyes, hesitant. "...Okay. I'll get grab my phone." He placed a compassionate kiss on her feverish forehead in the way a concerned parent might, but then, without considering why or the appropriateness of doing so, leaned down to place another on her parched lips.

It was the feeling of his lips on hers that jolted her back to life, her own sentient defibrillator. Had he not kissed her, she was quite certain she would have been content to lay there staring into his eyes forever, freezing time so that she never had to experience another fatherless minute. Freddie broke away from her and crossed over to his desk where his phone was plugged into the charger, she brought her newly freed hand to her lips and held it there absently, listening to him dial the number as he reclaimed the spot next to her. Carly sat up, sliding the phone out of his hand but only bringing it to her ear when she heard her brother's familiar voice.

"Whaddup, Fredwardo?" He exclaimed.

Carly licked her lips, "Spence..."

His tone instantly changed, "_Carly_? What is it? Is something the matter?" He shouted. Who knew one small utterance could excite such panic.

Carly held her breath for a moment longer, examining every way possible to break the news, imagining each of Spencer's responses, but this effort was for naught, because the moment she tried to speak again, everything burst forth at once.

"Daddy's dead, Spence!" She heard a sharp intake of breath, but was instantly unsure of whether or not it was actually she who made the noise. If Spencer responded, Carly didn't hear it. She could only assume she had become catatonic after the admission, because the next thing she knew Freddie was pacing back and forth with the phone pressed against his own ear.

"No, no. My mom is still out of town 'til next Wednesday...how long until you get in?" Freddie ran a hand through his tousled hair, "yeah, of course. I can do that." He pressed the glowing red symbol on his Pear Phone and placed it back on the dresser.

"W-what's he say...?" Carly whispered, thankful she did not have to hear the pain in his voice that would rival her own first hand.

"He wants me to take care of you until he can get back home, their flight out of Brazil isn't until this afternoon, and then there's a layover in Dallas. The earliest he can be back is tomorrow at noon."

Her stomach wove into knots. She felt the beginnings of another bout of hot tears seeping from the corners of her eyes. She had never felt so alone. No mother, now no father. And orphan.

"Hey, _hey_, Carly. It's okay. I'm still here and I won't leave your side until Spencer gets here, I promise." Freddie lowered himself to a knee and placed his hands on either side of her face, using his thumbs to dry her cheeks. Carly stared down at him, suddenly very perplexed. She had never realized before now just how easy it was to fall in love with your best friend.

"How did you know to come to the door Freddie?" Carly asked, leaning down toward him and resting her forehead on his, their silhouettes in the half light formed a perfect heart between them.

He hesitated, seeming genuinely confused.

_ "How could I not?"_


End file.
